And I Won!
by brokeandhungry
Summary: ...and for once her scream is not wordless, but it utters a name, loud and clear: "Cordelia". ... "Misty", she merely whispered but the sound of her own hushed voice was enough to wake her up. Foxxay! Set after season 3 Finale! A little fun, a little smut, a little drama, a LOT of fluff ;) Feel free to review! THEY BROUGHT HER BACK!
1. Chapter 1

Misty Day Cordelia Foxx/Goode Foxxay

Post Coven Finale

Prequel

The most innocent, most guileless, purest, wildest, freest of them all is trapped in her own cruel hell, oblivious to the ongoings of the place she once called home. Home, where the new leader of witchcraft, they call her the Supreme, manages all her new tasks and responsibilities brilliantly! That is on the outside. On the inside she is plagued with guilt and loss and pain and overwhelmed by confusion. Especially because she can't quite explain why losing one of her coven's witches hurts her excruciatingly more than losing others before. While the Supreme is uncertain of how to deal with her emotions (she switches between: try to forget her, move on, the hurt will pass and I have to find a way to make things good, to bring her back!), the lost swamp witch is caught in an endless circle of agony, having to kill an innocent being over and over again.  
But even though they're worlds apart, in different spheres, different realms, different dimensions, there is a thread, finely spun between them, emerging from the vibrations of their aching hearts beating in sync.  
This is why the Supreme has dreamed of frogs almost every night ever since the wild one's parting - waking up in dismay and at a total loss of how to analyze her nightly visions.  
This is why the stuck swamp witch very slowly, along with her tormenting consciousness, develops a tiny connection with her subconsciousness. Tender impulses, such as a faint smell or a certain tone bring back memories of a place long gone. At first they are just feelings and images, without meaning, without content. But soon they create a sort of natural instinct within her, whispering to her. Wake up!  
Neither of them are aware of how the universe, the stars - imperatively, inevitably pull their destinies back together. And while the Supreme lies awake, her heart as heavy as the moon without gravity, a spark inflames. Inflames right there where people imagine the soul of a being would inhabit their unlasting body. A spark so small, so infinitesimal, that one cannot be sure it is even there. Oh but it is! Proven thereby as it makes its way along the very thread, that so feebly, yet steadily connects her aching heart to the other's. Exploding on the tip of her tongue and for once her scream is not wordless, but it utters a name, loud and clear: "Cordelia".

Chapter 1

"Misty", she merely whispered but the sound of her own hushed voice was enough to wake her up. She opened her eyes, bright sunlight and unwelcome awareness hitting her hard. She sighed in frustration, not sure if she should be thankful for, for once, not having dreamed about frogs, or if the dream she actually did have wasn't even worse. Unconsciously she put her hand on her heart, letting it rest there, as if to console the fluttering organ. Turning her head towards the window she squinted against the rays of sunshine which flooded the whole room. As, with a blink of her eyes, Misty's face appeared before her, beaming alongside the sunlight, she groaned deeply, turned to lay on her side, pressed her eyes shut and clutched at her heart tightly. "I'm trying, ok?" she blurted out unnerved, not really knowing who she was talking to.  
Then she quickly got up, shook her ruffled hair and banned Misty into the back of her mind. There was a lot of work to do that day and she just was not in a position to neglect her duties. Days were needed for her living girls, her coven - nights belonged to her.  
Showered and dressed she felt better already and made her way down to the dining room. Some of the witches had gathered there already to have their breakfast, chatting and giggling and wishing their Supreme a good morning. Cordelia was filled with pride looking at her girls, happy and safe and growing to be excellent, powerful witches and smart, confident women.

It's been only two and a half months, since she had found out that she was the new Supreme - her mother's successor, since her mother's death and since she decided to open up to the press, the people, the world. Open up about their kind, about witchcraft and about the dangers that witches were faced with, as long as people were not properly informed and educated. So much had changed during these few weeks, changed for the better. Change made possible by Cordelia's commitment, bravery, perseverance and hard work. Almost fifty young girls and women from all over the states had come to seek refuge, to find a home, a place, where they would be understood, welcomed, enlightened and educated. Education was one of Cordelia's most important agendas. To provide housing for all of the young witches, she had procured another domicile, right down the street, to be able to keep an eye on all of them. About a dozen of the younger witches resided with Cordelia, her council and some staff members in the house that had been the coven's home for centuries. The older witches, along with some guardians and staff had moved into the new house. Besides the private school, she collaborated with (a deal made possible thanks to her public relations work), the girls attended various witchcraft classes, held by Cordelia and her Council at the coven's main building.

She spotted them at the end of the big dining room table - all three of them, plus Kyle. It warmed her heart to see these young women (and Kyle), that had grown to be somewhat like a family to her - sitting together right at the place that she called home. Even though, she every so often, had to be the authoritative figure and to keep them in their place, they were a huge help and made it possible for her to achieve so many of her goals. Each one of them had been given special duties and responsibilities, and so far, Cordelia had had the right intuition with the arrangement of the tasks, as they all fulfilled them successfully.

Queenie and Madison, as always, seemed to be in a quarrel, wildly gesturing at each other. Madison still loved to provoke everyone at any given chance, especially Queenie, as she knew she wouldn't just take her shit, which made her the perfect target.  
While approaching them, she wondered (not seriously, but somewhat annoyed) if it wouldn't have been better to leave Madison amongst the dead. Before she greeted them, she chuckled to herself and reminded herself, that Madison did have her strengths, too.  
They stopped arguing, when they saw their Supreme, and wished her a good morning. "Your majesty!" Madison mocked and curtsied, a mischievous smile spread across her face. Cordelia just rolled her eyes, ignored her and, turning towards, Zoe, Kyle and Queenie asked: "Why again did I bring her back?" "Beats me!" Queenie scoffed but grinned at Cordelia. They all laughed (except Madison, who pouted), sat down, had breakfast and discussed today's business to be dealt with.

After breakfast the girls were sent off to their regular school classes. Zoe and Kyle took Delphine to get groceries, Queenie showed some of the new staff around the house and Madison went off to her room to do yoga.  
Cordelia attended to her endless pile of paperwork. Her next witchcraft class would not start until the afternoon.  
Still, after like an hour of reading and returning mails and phone calls, she felt the need to get out to the greenhouse, to check once again, if everything was well-prepared for her potion's class later that day.  
She checked the herbs, liquids and powders she would need and placed them neatly on the big table in the middle of the greenhouse. She counted the test tubes and the copies of work sheets and compared the numbers with the attendance list. Finally she made sure all the safety precautions were set and was about to leave the greenhouse when her eyes caught a movement on the table in between all the glasses and tubes. She frowned and turned to step closer and get a better view. Behind one of the glasses she could see something green crawling along the table. Inexplicably she tensed up! She was hit by a sudden premonition, a sense of mourning spread inside of her chest and when she was close enough to identify the green little creature, she felt a sudden pang in her heart.  
"Are you serious?" she exasperatedly exclaimed towards the ceiling. Not addressing anyone in particular, but then turning to the frog sitting on the table in front of her. "Jesus! What do you want from me?" The frog just sat there, besides breathing and blowing up its cheeks, not moving and not making a sound. But it seemed to have its eye focused on Cordelia. She sighed heavily, let herself drop on one of the stools and leaning on the table, propped up on her elbow. She peered at the frog, smirked and muttered, not sure if to herself or to the frog (or to someone else entirely): "We do miss you, you know I I miss you! I sure could use a hand around here we did make a great team." Again she sighed heavily, her heart aching in her chest. "I should have never let you take part in the Seven Wonders ceremony, I shouldn't have made you. I'm so sorry" she said, leaning closer to the frog.  
"Delia?" Queenie caught her off guard and Cordelia was so surprised, she almost fell off her chair. The confident black witch was standing in the door to the greenhouse, watching Cordelia, a big frown decorating her face.  
"Queenie, hi, are you insane, sneaking in here like that, you scared the shit out of me."  
She ran her fingers through her hair, sat up straight and composed herself.  
"Yeah, I'm insane, when you're the one talking to a freaking frog!" the younger witch shook her head in disbelief and before Cordelia could respond, she continued: "Zoe and Delphine are back with the groceries. They didn't get the dried lavender you needed. Just thought I'd let you know."  
She turned to leave again, still baffled, shaking her head and mumbling: "The hell, Delia a damn frog!?", but chuckled in amusement.  
"I wasn't talking I mean it's not what it ugh nevermind!" She let it go as Queenie had already left anyways.  
Her frog friend was still sitting in the same spot, still oddly gazing at her. Cordelia quietly laughed at herself, smiled at the frog and suddenly overwhelmed with a rush of affection she carefully leaned over and placed a tiny kiss on the small creatures head.  
She barely had time to retreat from the frog, when all of a sudden a bright flash of light emerged from the frog's core, blinding her and causing her to stumble backwards in shock and fear. Panicked by the explosion-like flashes of light and heat, she covered her eyes and backed away, crashing right into the counter with all the tools and utensils - causing a vast pandemonium. Before she could fall and get hurt, she almost instinctively transmuted herself to the other end of the greenhouse, getting away from whatever the hell was happening on her lab table. Her heart was drumming against her chest violently and she breathed in deeply to calm herself. The dazzling flashes finally subsided and she could look in the direction of the table without being blinded. The light still seemed to be brighter over there, almost as if the place was illuminated by sunshine, arising, however, not from the sky, but from the middle of the green house. From the table - which made it harder to make out the cause of the mayhem. Tensely and cautiously Cordelia stepped closer, one step, two steps and then her heart stopped. Her mind stopped. Her breathing stopped. Time stopped. Everything stopped. She just stood in shock, staring at the image that was revealed in front of her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She looked unreal, she couldn't have been real. Yet she lay there, on the table, stone-still, like marble, but radiating light. Cordelia's mouth went dry and she felt dizzy from all the emotions hitting her all at once. Then she heard Zoe calling her name from a distance. It took her a while until she realized that it wasn't from a distance at all, but she was standing right in front of her, with a confused and concerned expression. "What is going on? What happened, are you alright?" When Cordelia didn't answer, the young witch followed the Supreme's gaze and, finally seeing what upset her that much, gasped - flabbergasted. "Misty" she simply uttered and stepped closer towards the table and towards the bare-naked woman lying on top of it. "But how is it poss…" her words got stuck in her throat and she just gawked at Misty in awe.  
Then Queenie, Kyle and Delphine came rushing in, alarmed by all the noise and riot.  
Delphine snapped out of her daze quickest:" Cover her up, for God's sake!" She took off her jacket and carefully laid it over Misty's exposed body. "Is she alive?" Kyle asked. Queenie leaned over the motionless figure, examining her closer. "She's breathing alright! Just unconscious"  
"She looks like porcelain", Zoe muttered absent-mindedly. They fell silent again, still staring at the blonde witch, amazed by her vibrant aura and her angelic appearance. "How is she back?" Queenie finally asked turning to face Cordelia, who was still one step behind them, still frozen. When the Supreme felt all their gazes upon herself, she lifted a hand to wipe away a tear that had run down her cheek and took a deep breath to compose herself. Still chocked up, her words came out hoarse and stuttering: "Let's…let's see if she's alright" . Slowly coming to herself, she approached the fragile looking creature. The others stepped aside to make room for her. She moved in slow-motion, her chest visibly heaving with every breath she took. Her eyes took in every inch, every little detail of the miraculous phenomenon in front of her - Misty Day. Her skin was so pale, no scratch, no scar, smooth like silk, like a newborn's. She looked as if she was peacefully sleeping, her wild blond locks framing her delicate features. Cordelia hesitantly stretched out a hand to touch the blonde girl's forehead, but stopped and just slowly let her hand hover over her face, then her chest and her heart. When a mixture of a sigh and a moan escaped the older witch's throat, Zoe stepped in, gently pulling Cordelia away and took charge.  
"Let's bring her upstairs. Queenie, we'll take her to your room, it used to be hers and she might feel safer there when she wakes up. Delphine, can you get her a nightgown. Kyle, I want you to carry her, I don't want to risk using magic on her, as long as we don't know more about her condition." They did as they were told and the subsequent commotion finally seemed to wake Cordelia from her stupor. "Take her to my room" she said on a sudden impulse and warily watched every step Kyle took, carrying the unconscious woman.  
He followed her orders and when arriving in Cordelia's room, he cautiously laid her down on her bed. Delphine came running with a simple white gown that she and Zoe pulled over the limp girl's body. Queenie covered her with a blanket. For another moment they all just stood around Misty laying in Cordelia's bed, watching her sleep. Then they quietly left the room and closed the door behind them.  
"What the hell, happened, Cordelia?", Queenie demanded, as soon as the door clicked shut. "Last I saw you, you were having a chat with a goddamn amphibian, and now all of a sudden the swamp witch is back?"  
"Swamp bitch is back?" They all turned around in unison, to find Madison standing in her doorway, looking at them snootily. "I thought I smelled something."  
"Oh shush, will you" Delphine hissed at her.  
Madison's curiosity awoken, she strolled towards them and drawled: "So, what happened?"  
"She talked to a frog and now Misty's back", Queenie blurted out, still eager for an explanation. "Queenie!" Zoe snapped. But the curvaceous girl lost her patience: "What? It's true, I saw it with my own eyes. So what happened Delia? Come on, tell us already!"  
Cordelia was still pretty shaken and had no clue how to explain Misty's sudden appearance. Wanting to end the girls' rampage as quickly as possible, she figured it'd be best to just stick with the truth .  
"I just kissed the frog… gave him a little peck. That's all. Suddenly all hell breaks lose with flashes and explosions. And there she was."  
Mentioning her drew her eyes towards the closed door, behind which Misty was sleeping.  
"You kissed a frog?" Madison snorted out with laughter. "And you made it explode?" The Supreme threw a grim look at her, she didn't know how else to respond. She had no answers.  
"Why'd you kiss the thing?" Queenie chimed in, "You're not in a fucking Brother's Grimm fairy tale! Did you expect a freaking prince to appear?" she chuckled and continued: "You might be the Supreme, but you are so weird. No offense, we love you…but…you know…."  
"Enough!" Cordelia finally exclaimed, cutting them off, her harsh tone silencing the girls at once.  
"I know as much as you do. But we will find the time to figure out what had happened and why and how she came back. Until then, I believe all of you have things to do. So I suggest you see to them and we will meet up again later and discuss how to proceed from here. Zoe, I'm gonna need you to cancel my potion's class for today. I'll stay here with Misty, I want to keep an eye on her and make sure she's not alone, when she wakes up." Zoe nodded, gestured to the others to follow her and they left Cordelia alone in the hallway.

Her head was still spinning. She pressed her hands on her face and breathed in deeply, letting the air out with a big sigh. Then she carefully opened the door to her room and quietly stepped in. She stayed put by the door for another few moments, just looking over to Misty who was fast asleep. She could still not believe, that she was actually back, right here, in her room, with her. But when she stepped next to the bed, it slowly dawned on her and she let out a soft laugh of joy and wonder. Looking down on the sleeping blonde, her chest filled with warmth and she couldn't help but smile. Calmness and ease overcame her and she closed her eyes, taking in the feel of the moment. Finally she had time to gather herself and to deal with this new situation. She carefully sat down on the edge of the bed. And this time she did not hesitate, she did not stop when she reached out a hand and very gently touched Misty's face with her fingers, tenderly tracing them along her cheek.

Everything happened so fast and all at once. The vision violently pulled her into immediate darkness, she felt a sudden weight pressing against her chest, so heavy, she was sure it would crush her to death. Then for just a fraction of a second she was drawn into a void, emptiness crawling over her, inside of her, eating her up, like worms a decomposing body. She gasped out fiercely and opening her eyes again, she found herself face to face with Misty. Eyes wide in shock and terror, the swamp witch uttered a panicked cry, that made Cordelia shudder. She hastily backed away from Cordelia and pushed herself into the wall at the head of the bed. Her eyes wild, her breath rapid, her body shaking, she wrapped her arms around her knees and started whimpering in fear and confusion.  
"Hey, hey…shhh…shhh….you're alright….it's alright…you're safe…you're safe" Cordelia whispered, carefully gesturing that she won't come near her, won't harm her. Like a scared up animal Misty still pressed herself into the wall and peered at the other woman uneasily. Then Cordelia saw a flickering in her eyes, a flickering of recognition and she dared to slowly move closer, still speaking soft, calming words of reassurance. Misty, though still tense and scared, let her approach, which gave Cordelia confidence and with one quick movement, she was by her side and pulled her into an embrace. The panicked girl instantly slackened in Cordelia's arms and quietly started to cry. Cordelia just held her in her arms, softly stroking her hair and her back.  
Slowly calming down, herself, she realized that, even though she was touching Misty, the horrifying vision from before had not come back. She breathed out thankfully and when Misty's sobs subsided, she loosened their embrace to look at the exhausted woman. Their eyes met and Cordelia felt a strange sensation in her chest and in her stomach. Which only intensified, when a small smile formed around the corners of Misty's mouth. She couldn't help but smile, too and let herself just enjoy the moment for a second.  
Then all the questions, she desperately wanted answers to, pushed against her skull and she couldn't hold them back anymore.  
"Misty, are you alright?" she softly asked first. And when Misty didn't answer: "I can't believe you're back, how are you back?" she rambled on: "What happened? How did you do it? How did you come back? Because, you know, usually, actually, this is impossible. We're going to have to read up on this, find out if this has happened before and if there are any consequences to it. Oh God, I hope not, we better check you up, to see if you're ok. You seem ok to me, Misty, are you ok?"  
But Misty was not paying attention to her ramblings. Her focus was on the window and the blue sky, white clouds and birds outside. Cordelia followed her gaze and smiled. Misty, mesmerized by the scenery outside the window, stood up and walked over there to get a better view. Cordelia watched her from the bed and chuckled when Misty looked out of the window so eagerly that she bumped her head on the glass. She rubbed her forehead and nose, but smiled and then quickly crossed the room to reach for the door.  
Cordelia barely had time to react, she opened her mouth to hold her back, but then she just got up and followed her out of the room.  
Barefoot and in her nightgown Misty walked down the stairs, crossed the big empty entrance hall and stepped outside, into the front yard. She paused for a moment, breathing in the hot, humid air, raising her head, her face towards the sunlight and closed her eyes in pleasure.  
Cordelia stood in the doorway and watched the blonde woman step on the grass, wiggle her toes and then turn around to her, a big smile spread across her face. It made Cordelia laugh to see her so joyful.  
Misty continued her journey of (re)discovery, walking through the front yard, touching the ground, the earth, the dirt, the plants and everything she could get her hands on.  
Cordelia was so much taken by the scene, she didn't even notice Zoe, Queenie, Madison and some of the students had silently joined her, all looking at Misty in wonder.  
"She's awake huh?!" Madison said plainly and Cordelia just nodded, neither of them taking their eyes off of the bubbly, strange and mystifying woman. Who was now kneeling down and digging her hands deep into the earth, smiling brightly.  
Suddenly her smile faded and she stopped - just to then abruptly get up and determinedly walk towards the coven ground's gate. She seemed to have had some sort of recollection, her stride was quick and decisive and Cordelia had to run over to her, to hold her back. She touched her shoulder, which made Misty pause, turn around and smile at her. But her eyes wandered off into the distance, a longing expression on her face.  
She didn't need to say anything, Cordelia knew where she was headed.  
"I'll take you there soon, I promise" she softly said and reached for Misty's hand. Misty took it and their hands and fingers entwined, she let Cordelia lead her back inside. The others followed, now chatting and debating and coming up with all kinds of ideas of how Misty was able to come back.  
At the foot of the stairs, Misty slowed down and then her knees gave way. "Whoa!" Cordelia called out, supporting her quickly and calling for someone to help bring her back upstairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"She's fast asleep" she said, seeing her council's curious and concerned faces. They were sitting around the dining hall table, waiting for Cordelia to join them to finally discuss Misty's mysterious return. Cordelia sat down, next to Madison - Queenie and Zoe opposite of her. Delphine was cleaning off the rest of the lunch dishes and Kyle, sensing that it was not his place to join them in their little meeting, got up, gave Zoe a small kiss on the cheek and left.  
"She's probably gonna need some time to recover, she went through a lot" Cordelia said. "How do we know? She's not even talking!" Madison tossed in.  
"Yeah what's up with that? Queenie wanted to know.  
"Well, she spent the last couple of weeks in hell, I'm sure you wouldn't be all chipper and talkative" Zoe added.  
"She seems fine to me" Madison remarked snappily.  
"We'll give her the time she needs, and until then, let's do some research and see if we can find anything in our books" Cordelia quickly said, to avert yet another quarrel between the girls.  
It was only two pm and she felt so drained already.  
The girls must have noticed, as for the rest of the conversation they were cooperative and peaceful. Even when they decided to have Queenie move to another room, so Misty could stay in her old room. And even when Madison was assigned to collect Misty's things from the attic (Madison hated that attic!).  
Zoe volunteered to read through some books and do some research on the Seven Wonders, late returns from other realms and on anything else that could be of help.  
They broke off the assembly and each of them attended to their tasks and assignments. Zoe, already one foot out of the dining room, paused and turned towards Cordelia.  
"I was wondering…don't you see anything?"  
Cordelia had asked herself that question, as well.  
"I did when I first touched her, before she woke up", she answered, slightly shuddering thinking of the gruesome vision.  
She went on: "The Sight is not something that always works continuously and proportionally or after a certain fixed pattern. There are probably several eventualities, several occasions, when it doesn't work. We'll find out more soon."  
Zoe nodded and then wanted to know: "What did you see?"  
Cordelia's face turned dark, her answer came toneless: "She must be a powerful witch to come back from that place, sane and unbroken."

At around 6 pm Cordelia's stomach growled so loudly, she couldn't ignore it anymore. She had been too busy, too excited and too flustered to eat. Her mood switching from happy and light-hearted to worried and confused, she had went through the afternoon, doing this and that, getting things done, but her mind always wandering off. Off to the blonde wild one, up in her bedroom.  
She put away the paperwork she had been working on and left her office, making her way to the kitchen, to see if Delphine had started preparing dinner already.  
She did not find Delphine, but someone else had helped themselves to some pre-dinner snacks. Misty and Lily, their youngest student - she was only 11 - sat next to each other at the kitchen counter, both their legs dangling around the high stools they were seated on, silently munching away on some sandwiches. Cordelia involuntarily giggled when she saw them. What a sight! Grinning broadly she walked over to them, both of them so preoccupied with their food, they just glanced and smiled at her quickly. "Pre-dinner sandwiches, huh?" Cordelia chuckled. "What you having?"  
"Avocado", Lily answered, taking another big bite to continue with a full mouth:"I wanted baloney, but that made her upset", she nodded in Misty's direction. "Huh" Cordelia just let out wonderingly. She then looked Misty up and down, again not able to contain the big smile spreading across her face. Misty's bare feet and nightgown were all dirty, from her digging-party earlier that day, her cheeks were rosy and her hair was even more ruffled than usually - probably from sleep.  
"She doesn't talk" Lily stated, pulling Cordelia back from her thoughts, "but she makes awesome sandwiches".

Delphine eventually turned up and started making dinner - and soon the kitchen and dining room were filled with girls, returning from their classes, or emerging from their rooms. Some of them went up to their Supreme, telling her about their day or asking her for help with homework or other issues. Cordelia patiently and graciously took care of her girls, skimming an English essay, laughing about a joke and consoling an upset looking teen. From the corner of her eye she saw Misty watching her and when she looked over to her, their eyes met and that weird feeling from before hit her again.  
"Alright everybody, dinner is served" Delphine shouted out and the young witches hungrily hurried to sit down and eat.  
Her stomach in turmoil, Cordelia suddenly didn't really feel that hungry anymore.  
But watching Misty sitting amongst the students and eating with such an appetite, motivated her to have some of Delphine's delicious lentil stew, too.

After dinner Cordelia took Misty up to her new old room. She was pleased to see that Queenie had made some room for Misty's things and Madison had put Misty's boxes next to the closet and even taken some dresses out and hung them up to air out and unwrinkle. Madison did have a big heart, even though she mostly tried (and succeeded) to hide it.  
Misty scrutinized the room and put on a half smile when she saw her dresses, but she appeared to be a little uneasy. She fidgeted with the hem of her nightgown, her eyes nervously wandering around the room. Cordelia figured she must be tired, so she quickly proceeded to give her some rest. She gave her a clean towel and showed her the way to the bathroom (just in case she didn't remember).  
"And I am just across the hall, in case you need anything, anything at all", she added and encouragingly smiled at her.  
Making her way out of Misty's room, she hesitated by the door, looking at Misty one more time and said: "Im really happy you're back" and "Good night, Misty".

Even though she had fallen asleep late - a thousand thoughts and questions keeping her awake - Cordelia woke up energized and cheerful the next morning. She lay in her bed contentedly looking at the ceiling and enjoying the calm and peaceful atmosphere. No dreams, she thought to herself, at least no nightmares. She could get used to that, she smiled, and suddenly filled with a strange excitement she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her heart skipped a beat and she gasped in surprise, when she caught sight of a bundle of blankets, pillows, arms and blonde hair, on the floor, right next to her bed. "What the…" she whispered in confusion, but an empathetic smile formed on her face, when she recognized Misty's sleeping features.  
She cautiously knelt down next to the sleeping girl and observed her in astonishment. Her gaze on Misty's face, she could see Misty's closed eyes moving under her eyelids, probably dreaming. But suddenly her eyes opened and found Cordelia's. Face to face, only inches apart, they looked at each other, both smiling. Even though only a few seconds passed, it felt like an eternity. A comfortable eternity. In a comfortable silence. A silence, that, to Cordelia's amazement, was broken by Misty.  
In her typical raspy southern drawl she softly said: " Thank you, Miss Cordelia"  
She found Misty's warm hand under the blanket and squeezed it. "Always!"  
Then she wrinkled her forehead, all the unanswered questions (and more) slowly coming back to her mind. "Did you not sleep well in your room?" She got up from her kneeling position. Her legs tingling, she shook and stretched them and sat down on the edge of the bed. Misty watched her, sat up and smiled, but did not answer.  
"You know, you could have woken me up, we could have found another room for you, or I could have given you something to help you sleep", Cordelia rambled on. Misty just softly chuckled, got up, sat down next to Cordelia, took her hands in hers and smiled at her gratefully. Cordelia sighed and, rather talking to herself than to Misty, cluelessly asked: "What are we gonna do with you?" Then she stood up, pulling Misty up with her, and determinedly said: "Come on, let's go get ready and get some breakfast. First things first."

Just when they stepped out of Cordelia's room - Cordelia still holding Misty's hand, dragging her along - Zoe passed by, frowning at them, but walking on, just casually wishing them a good morning. Cordelia let go off Misty's hand and thanked the heavens that it was Zoe and not Madison running into them like that. It certainly was not what it looked like, but Madison would have made it into something else for sure.  
"I'll see you in a minute", Cordelia said stopping in front of the bathroom door and Misty tippy-toed towards her room.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The door to Misty's room was open, and when she poked her head inside and saw that her room was empty she figured Misty must have already gone downstairs.  
Her assumptions proved to be true. She found Misty, the girls, Kyle, Delphine and a couple of students in the kitchen. All of them (but Misty) were standing in the kitchen doorway watching the blonde swamp witch - apparently cooking breakfast. She was dressed in one of her typical hippie-style outfits and jauntily mixing batter in a bowl. Then, putting down the bowl, she opened the fridge, got out an apple and delightfully bit into the fruit. The apple still in her mouth, she reached for a bag of blueberries and poured them into the batter.  
"So, it's blueberry pancakes for breakfast, huh?" Zoe chuckled.  
"It's Wednesday", Delphine remarked grumpily, "French toast day". She shook her head, mumbled something incomprehensible and left the kitchen.  
Batter ready, pan on the stove, Misty now was fumbling with a matchbox, wanting to light the gas stove. But the first match split in half before it caught fire and the second one went off before the flame hit the gas.  
"Uhhm, she does know, that she has powers to do that, right?" Queenie remarked.  
"I don't know", Cordelia said, "maybe she forgot".  
"Maybe she doesn't have her powers anymore", Madison threw in. "Have you seen her do magic?"  
"I don't think so…", Cordelia frowned. After a pause she added: "She did finally speak, though".  
They all turned their heads, eager to find out more. "What did she say?" Zoe asked, what they all wanted to know.  
"Just 'thank you'." Cordelia shrugged and went over to Misty to help her light the gas flame.  
"Well, that's progress", Queenie snorted out sarcastically and they all scattered off into the dining room or helped set the table.

Later that day, after her classes and lots of office work, Cordelia finally found the time to see to her neglected plants and chores in the green house. Furthermore, she wanted to try and reevaluate what exactly had happened the day before - when Misty came back. Strangely enough, like almost every time that she had thought about her that day, Misty appeared - walking into the green house, broadly smiling at her.  
"Hey you", Cordelia greeted her cheerfully. "What have you been up to?" she asked without expecting an answer. Misty stepped closer and curiously watched Cordelia arrange some pots. "You wanna help me repot the nasturtium? It's been growing like crazy!" Of course Misty wanted to help. They worked side by side, Cordelia showing Misty the tricks and secrets of repotting herbs, and Misty enjoying being in touch with the plants and the earth. Cordelia felt comfortable in Misty's company, even though they were not talking. It almost felt like the times before Misty was gone. But Cordelia wanted to take the opportunity to try and get to the bottom of the silent witch's return. If not by making her talk, maybe at least by sorting out her own thoughts and memories.  
"Do you remember anything at all?" Cordelia asked carefully. Misty knitted her brows and continued to shake off old and dry earth of the roots of a plant that she was about to put in a bigger pot. "How did you get out of there? Do you remember where you were?"  
Misty eyed her, looking at her almost reproachfully and Cordelia quickly decided to change her strategy.  
"It's so good to have you back", she smiled at her. "We really missed you…I even dreamed about you…I felt so bad after…you know….I shouldn't have made you…" she faltered seeing Misty's face go blank, her eyes emptily staring at her hands. "Anyways, it's just so crazy that you're back, I mean, one minute I'm preparing the Bhushan potion for class, next minute you appear out of nowhere! And what an entrance! Fireworks and all! Oh and there was this frog…" At that Misty raised her brows, looking at her expectantly.  
Her gaze made Cordelia giddy and she started to stutter. "It's just…I had dreamed about frogs…and you…and I don't know exactly why but the frog reminded me of…" she stopped mid-sentence, just smiled at Misty apologetically and said: "It's getting late, I'll tell you some other time, let's go see if dinner is ready."  
She sighed inwardly and clapped the dirt off of her hands. How on earth could she have explained to Misty, that the frog somehow had reminded her of her and that she had started talking to it and even kissed it - when she couldn't even explain it to herself. As far as she knew it could have nothing and probably didn't have anything to do with Misty's reappearance.

"Cordelia? Delia, wake up! You overslept!" Queenie's voice cut through a thick layer of deep sleep and Cordelia, still dozing, had difficulties placing the noise and shaking at her side. Awareness seeping through, she finally woke and shot up abruptly, almost knocking Queenie over.  
"Man, you sleep like a rock!" Queenie noted amusedly and then: " Breakfast is ready", she headed towards the door.  
"Oh and watch your step, Misty is sleeping on your floor."  
With that she closed the door and left a confused and drowsy Cordelia behind.  
"Good morning, Miss Cordelia" she heard Misty's soft voice behind her and turned to look at Misty, sitting on the floor in a pile of blankets, beaming at her joyfully. Her smile was so contagious, happiness filled Cordelia's chest and she beamed back at the blonde young woman.  
"You know, I never knew I had such a deep sleep, until now - having intruders unnoticeably slip into my room, and all", she winked at her and Misty blushed. She looked as if she was embarrassed and distractedly fiddled with her blanket. It was adorable, Cordelia couldn't help but laugh.  
"Do you mind?" Misty then, to Cordelia's surprise (and joy), asked - her eyes bright, glowing and big, looking up at her eagerly. Cordelia was instantly reminded of puppies and she smiled again, leaned down and reassuringly said:" I do not mind!"  
"I do mind, though, that you're sleeping on the floor. We're gonna have to find a better solution for that".  
Misty just shyly nodded and put a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Why don't you just let her sleep in your bed?" Queenie asked, enflaming the fire in the living room fireplace with one subtle movement.  
Cordelia got a bunch of candles out of one of the drawer chests and frowned.  
"Wouldn't that be…inappropriate or at least unprofessional?"  
She put the candles into the candlesticks that Queenie set out on the table and continued: "I mean, with me being the Supreme and her being a former student?"  
"Aww come on Delia, don't be so uptight, you're not gonna have to snuggle her!" Queenie teased. The Supreme had already got used to Queenie's fresh mouth and she knew how she meant it and that Queenie would always have her back, even though, she sometimes stepped out of line.  
"She probably just feels safer with you" Queenie added, seeing Cordelia's scrunched up face.  
"I tried to make her feel more comfortable and safer in her room.  
Scented candles, herbs and flowers, dream catchers, I even got her an ipod with Stevie's songs. But nothing seems to work. This morning was the fourth time that I woke up with her sleeping on my floor."  
They teleported some chairs to the other end of the room, to have more space for the students and their exercises. Then Queenie asked: "And she still doesn't talk about what happened?"  
"No", Cordelia let herself fall into one of the armchairs, "she still barely talks at all".  
Queenie followed suit and sat down next to her Supreme.  
"Still no Sight?"  
"Nope"  
"Still no research results from Zoe?"  
"Nope"  
"And she's still not using magic"?  
"Not that I know of"  
They fell silent for a while, dwelling each on their own thoughts.  
"She'll talk eventually", Queenie said encouragingly, "then we'll find out more."  
"Yeah", Cordelia said, absent-mindedly nodding.  
Then - the students of the Pyrokinesis class arriving in dribs and drabs - the Supreme got up, smiled at Queenie gratefully and left her to her lesson.

The idea came to her later that day when she was in her office and the gleeful swamp witch passed by her open door. "Misty, could you come in here, for a second", she called out quickly, hoping that she could still hear her. She did! Her face appeared in Cordelia's doorway just an instant later. "Hi, Miss Delia", Misty said - as always with a bright smile on her beautiful face.  
Her smile was distracting and Cordelia softly shook her head to make herself stop gazing and get back to what she intended to discuss with Misty. "How would you like it, if we put a spare bed into my room? I understand you don't sleep too well on your own, so how about we try and see if you sleep better in my room…in a bed…and not on the floor", she added, smiling at Misty.  
Misty's face lit up even more and she excitedly answered: "Alright!".  
"Ok, that's settled then", Cordelia said, mirroring Misty's expression.  
"I'll have one of the girls teleport the bed into my room, after dinner", she told the younger witch, who nodded in agreement. She was happy to see Misty so content and cheerful, but also anxious to see how having a room mate would work out. And not having any room mate. But having Misty Day as a room mate.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Awesome, I get my room back!" Queenie exclaimed, rolling the dice out of the leather cup energetically.  
She, Cordelia, Zoe, Kyle, Lily and another young witch (her name was Sally, she was a little whiney, but had the most magnificent head of hair) were playing Yahtzee and Cordelia had just informed them about her plan to put a spare bed into her room - for Misty.  
"I'm afraid, you won't, Queenie", Cordelia clarified, "I'm just trying something out and it hopefully won't be permanent"  
Queenie rolled her eyes and passed the cup and dice to Kyle.  
"Misty still needs a room to retreat to and I hope, she soon will be confident and fearless enough to sleep on her own again." Cordelia explained.  
"Where is Misty, anyways?" Zoe wanted to know.  
"Madison took her upstairs after dinner, I heard her say something about a new brand of eye liner", Queenie chuckled.  
"Oh boy", Zoe laughed cheekily, "make-up-tutorials from the Hollywood-star."  
"It's your turn" Lily chimed in, nudging Cordelia, who was lost in thoughts once again.  
"Can I play?" came a voice from the doorway.  
They all turned simultaneously and found Misty standing by the door, grinning at them and looking as stunning as ever. Her gorgeous blonde hair was partially braided - two braids at the side of her head, loosely bound together in the back. She or Madison had applied soft make-up to her naturally pretty face, accentuating her bright blue eyes and she was glowing with pride and confidence. She approached them to sit down in an empty chair next to Lily. All eyes still following her, gawking at her.  
"Noooo, not HER", Sally suddenly let out whiningly, "she always rolls Yahtzees!"  
"Come on, Sally, everybody gets to play" Zoe calmed the kid, who made a pouty face but kept her mouth closed. Then Zoe turned to Misty: "You look nice" and Kyle nodded affirmatively.  
"It's true though, she does always roll Yahtzees", Queenie tossed in and then, a little lower, she mumbled: "Are we sure she's not using magic?" They all laughed cheerfully.  
"Miss Cordelia! It's still your turn!" Lily then almost shouted impatiently, and Cordelia, her gaze still on Misty, mouth still half open, blushed horribly and quickly took the cup to continue the game.

They had put the bed right under the window, and when Cordelia came back from the bathroom, Misty - already in her nightgown, was kneeling on her bed, staring into the night sky.  
It felt a little strange to Cordelia, to have someone present at a usually private time - to have someone there witnessing all her nightly routines and habits. But the prospect of not finding Misty on the floor next morning was more important to her than her privacy.  
Oddly enough, she felt nervous, but blamed it on the fact that it had been ages since she had last shared a room with someone.  
She hopped into bed quickly, glanced over to Misty and asked: "Everything alright?"  
"Yes!" Misty answered and crawled under her blanket.  
"Did you have a good day?" Cordelia wanted to know.  
"Yeah, it was awesome!"  
"Good! I'm glad!"  
They fell silent for a moment.  
Then Misty sat up, leaning on her arm, glanced at Cordelia with an earnest, almost solemn expression and said: "Thank you, for everything, Miss Cordelia!"  
Cordelia answered with a warm smile and then playfully added: " You better call me Delia! We're room mates now, equals, kindred spirits, a great team, remember?!  
"Yeah, I remember!" Misty answered, her voice full of emotion. They held their gazes for another while longer. Then Cordelia, confused by the commotion in her stomach, turned away, switched off the light and wished Misty a good night.  
"Good night, Delia" Misty whispered into the darkness.

When she woke up the next day, she found Misty's bed empty and wondered where she could have gone that early in the morning, but figured she must have stepped out to go to the bathroom. She rubbed her eyes, stretched her limbs thoroughly and yawned loudly. Then she heard a rustling noise, suspiciously close to her bed. She quickly rolled over on her side and peered over the edge of her bed, already guessing what or who she would find there - in her usual spot. She looked at Misty with a mixture of amusement, perplexity and affection and when Misty opened her eyes Cordelia softly said: "You do like that spot there, don't you?"  
"This spot keeps the nightmares away", Misty answered calmly and honestly, her voice still scratchy from sleep. She smiled weakly and Cordelia could see that she tensed up, thinking of and speaking of her nightmares. "It's the only spot in the house", Misty continued, "I tried all of them!". She turned her gaze towards the ceiling, lost in thoughts and her expression went blank. It pained Cordelia to imagine the poor girl, wandering through the house, trying to find a place of comfort and trying to find a way to keep the haunting dreams away. It pained her so much, that then and there she made a decision.  
"Well, you haven't tried this spot" she said boldly and petted the mattress next to her.  
Misty frowned confusedly and when she caught on to what Cordelia meant, she raised her brows.  
"Oh, no, Delia, I couldn't…"  
But Cordelia was determined. "Come sit by me!" she said smiling and again petted the spot next to her. Misty took the offer, shyly sat down next to her, but, still modestly protesting, said: "You're so kind, but I wouldn't want to intrude…I mean, I don't wanna be… a burden…" She sighed and started fiddling around with her fingers, like always when she was nervous.  
"Listen!", Cordelia took her hand and searched for her eyes. "I can only imagine what you have been through. When I was in the nether realm, all I wanted to do was die…cease to exist. It still scares me to think of that horrifying place. And I was only there for a few minutes." She paused, searching for words.  
"We're beyond happy to have you back, and so, so glad that you seem to be alright. I'm so glad you're alright", her voice thickened with emotion and she had troubles going on, but she inhaled deeply and kept going.  
"I will never forgive myself for what happened to you and I will try everyday to make it up to you, even if it takes my whole life."  
She softly squeezed Misty's hand and, almost whispering, went on: "So, if there's anything, anything at all that I can do, to make you feel better, I will gladly do it!"  
Misty was deeply touched by Cordelia's words, a silent tear ran down her cheek and she bashfully looked down into her lap.  
Cordelia raised her hand, still bold, still determined to help the suffering girl. The fluttering commotion in her stomach back, she bravely ignored it and wiped away the tear on Misty's cheek.  
"Alright?" Cordelia asked encouragingly?  
"Alright!" Misty finally answered, smiling at her gratefully.

"What's up with you today?" , Zoe asked, kneeling down, to help pick up the shattered pieces of the glass that Cordelia had just dropped.  
With every hour that passed, she got clumsier. She had dropped two glasses, had run into several people and door frames, had burnt the milk for her coffee and had forgotten one of her classes - that she then had been awfully later for.  
"I don't know", Cordelia sighed all flustered, threw the pieces of glass in the trash and ran her fingers through her hair. "There's a full moon coming up, maybe it's that" she smiled at Zoe and thanked her for her help.  
"How's Misty?" the young brunette asked and Cordelia wondered if Zoe had developed the power of clairvoyance.  
"Good, I guess." she answered trying to sound casual. "I have barely seen her today", she explained, "she spends a lot of time in the greenhouse. And I think I saw her with Lily earlier today."  
"It's really cute, how the two of them are bonding", Zoe noted.  
"Yeah, Misty helps her with her homework" Cordelia said absentmindedly, a dorky smile on her face.  
Zoe giggled perkily (and knowingly) and nudged Cordelia in the side.  
"Come on, let's go see if we can get Delphine away from that awful show she's been binge watching long enough to cook us some dinner, I'm starving!"  
Cordelia laughed heartily.  
"I bet she hopes to one day find a handsome bachelor for herself." They broke out in laughter, making their way to the older lady's room.

"Are you alright?"  
This time it was Misty asking Cordelia.  
They had just went to (their shared) bed and Cordelia had been awfully quiet all evening long. Misty turned, laying on her side to face Cordelia - who was laying on her back, staring at the ceiling and kneading her hands.  
She just glanced at Misty quickly, sent her a half smile and said: "Yeah, sure", before turning silent again.  
She felt like a shaken up bottle of fizzy water and didn't even know why. It made her upset, but she didn't want to be harsh with Misty, so she preferred to not speak at all. She felt Misty's gaze on her face and swallowed hard. The silence seemed to evoke tension all the more and she was relieved, when Misty turned on her back and reached for the light switch. "Good night" she said softly and turned away from Cordelia.  
As agitated as she was, she thought she would never be able to fall asleep. But the calmness of the night and Misty's steady breathing soothed her and eventually she drifted off into soft slumber.

And that's how it was. She slept next to her. All the following nights. Woke up next to her. All the following mornings. And in time Cordelia got used to Misty's company and the closeness, that sharing a bed brought along. She got used to Misty's scent, to the sound of her breathing, to her warmth, her movements, her quirks and habits. The only thing that she could not get used to, was waking up too close to Misty. Who turned out to be a very calm sleeper, often waking up in the exact same position that she had fallen asleep in. Cordelia on the other hand had always been a tosser and turner, so that she quite often woke up snuggled against Misty or accidentally touching her in inappropriate places. Misty did not seem to mind, she always only smiled kindly at her. But Cordelia was always embarrassed and confused and blushed terribly. And even more confusingly, sometimes her cheeks weren't the only body parts that her blood rushed into when she touched Misty in certain places. However, she always managed to excuse away her feelings with all kinds of odd explanations of why she felt the way she did.

Misty's nightmares slowly subsided and her confidence grew. She started talking and opening up to the girls, developing trust and friendships with all of them.  
During the days she would listen to music with Queenie, discussing their favorite bands, genres and lyrics, or just singing along to their favorite songs.  
She would meditate and do yoga with Madison, who during those sessions was always nice and good-tempered. She enjoyed how it made her feel at ease and closer to nature and she enjoyed not being teased by Madison, getting to know her on a whole different level.  
She loved helping in the kitchen, helping Delphine to cook and prepare lunches or dinners. Delphine did not seem to enjoy her assistance that much, especially because Misty did not allow her to cook meals containing meat. The coven's diet plan had predominantly turned vegetarian, but nobody seemed to mind, as Delphine and Misty were a great team of cooks and served them the most delicious dishes. Even Delphine had to admit that - and after a while she actually awaited Misty to join her in the kitchen.  
She spent lots of time with Kyle and Zoe, whose love for each other she could see and feel radiating from them, and who were always kind with each other and kind with her. Kyle taught her to play chess, Zoe showed her the most awesome books about plants and animals and sometimes they watched movies together (though they would struggle to pick a movie, as Misty preferred comedies and Kyle and Zoe liked horror movies - so mostly they settled on nature documentaries, which all three of them enjoyed).  
Often Misty could be found being silly and fooling around with Lily and some of the other youngsters. They sat in the front yard in the grass, making daisy wreaths, played pranks on Madison or Delphine, dressed up in Misty's beautiful, unusual dresses - taking a million selflies or talked about their crushes, desperately trying to find out Misty's love interest (but she would never even tell if she had one).  
Sometimes she even attended some of the girl's witchcraft classes (mostly Cordelia's). She still did not use her powers, but she would soak up every word, trying to learn and memorize as much as she could.  
Her favorite place though, was the greenhouse. She took care of the plants, herbs and flowers with such dedication and learned so eagerly, that Cordelia was barely needed there anymore. She still kept Misty company whenever she found the time to. She loved to work side by side with Misty and they soon developed an almost organic way of working, knowing each others every step, grip and movement so well, there was no need for communication.  
Their connection grew stronger, they could both feel it.  
Yet there were things left unsaid, unresolved questions and repressed feelings, rising up inside both of them, making them tense and restless more and more often.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Three weeks after Misty's return, the lively swamp witch surprised her former mentor, when she knew a formula, that Cordelia needed for a certain potion, by heart. It was a complicated formula and Cordelia had just wanted to get the book, to look it up, when Misty recited it like it was nothing.  
Cordelia smiled and nodded approvingly and Misty cheerfully exclaimed: "Wow I never knew I was so smart!"  
Hearing that, Cordelia grew serious and, turning towards Misty took her hands and insistently said: "Whoever let you think you are anything but smart and intelligent and strong and powerful is a fool and not worth listening to!"  
Misty smiled sheepishly and said thank you.  
She seemed lost in thoughts after that, distractedly picking on some leaves and Cordelia went back to her potion.  
After a while Misty stepped up to her again with a resolute expression on her face and plainly said: "I think it's time".  
She did not need to say more, Cordelia knew exactly what she meant. "Alright", she answered, "tomorrow!"

That night both of them lay awake, too excited to go to sleep. Misty turned to face Cordelia and looked at her, as if the mere sight of her could ease her troubles and make things right. She sometimes did that and it still made Cordelia nervous.  
By now she had come to the conclusion, that Misty did not do anything out of purpose or to achieve or acquire something, but just purely out of instinct and according to what she felt.  
Cordelia had come to terms with the fact that she, to Misty, was some kind of save place, or person in that case, who she felt protected and comfortable with. She ascribed Misty's attachment to the fact that she was the first person Misty saw, when she first came back. And of course on their special bond that they have had ever since they first met.  
That's how she explained Misty's affection towards her.  
How to explain her own inability to keep her mind off the beautiful young witch and to keep her heart from racing or skipping a beat, whenever she was near her, touched her or did something endearing, was way harder.  
'It's our special connection! It's because I have wished for this to happen so badly! Everybody must feel like that for Misty, she has such a winning and pure and lovely personality! It's because I'm kind of lonely and she's always by my side, it's natural to develop deeper feelings. I'm just making things up!' were just some of her attempts.  
The best explanation that she could come up with was that she had never experienced anything so intense in her life before and that it somehow must have something to do with where Misty had been and how she had come back. And with her, Cordelia, having been there when she, Misty, had returned.  
Misty had fallen asleep next to her, looking so peaceful and innocent and it almost pained her to hold herself back, from taking her in her arms and holding her tight.

It was the hottest day of the month and Cordelia was sweating already, although they had just started their hike. They had driven out by car as far as the swampland had allowed them to and now Misty, Zoe, Kyle and Cordelia were marching through the dense and humid swamps, one behind the other. Misty, all excited to be back at the place she had called home for so long, set a brisk pace and the others had troubles to keep up. As a matter of prudence, Cordelia had put on light and outdoorsy clothes, wearing beige linen pants and a simple white tank top. Nonetheless she wished she was somewhere she could turn on the AC or to simply teleport herself to Misty's little shack. But Kyle and Misty couldn't teleport and so she bravely marched on and hoped it wouldn't take them too long to get there.  
Misty on the other hand was on fire. She rushed through the woods light-footed and confident - it almost looked like she was dancing or flying. Her eyes were glowing with excitement and enthusiasm and she took in every little detail of her surrounding in awe. Her joyous mood contagious, the others forgot the muggy air and enjoyed the beautiful landscapes of the excursion.  
When they finally reached the swamp witch's former home, Misty almost sprinted towards the door and entered - a huge smile spread on her face and a noise, half sigh, half laugh, escaped her mouth. She jumped around the room and keenly touched everything that caught her eye, cheerfully exclaiming: "My bed! My shawls! My lamp! My bucket! My Stevie!" The others watched her, not able to be anything else but happy and enjoyed the sight of the chipper wild girl.  
They had a picnic right outside the little shack - eating the sandwiches and fruit they had brought and having herbal tea that Misty had made for them. They sat on a blanket in the shade and had taken off their shoes and socks and rolled up their sleeves. Misty sat cross-legged, curiously observing a lady bug that was crawling along her calf. Cordelia lay on her stomach, curiously observing Misty observing the lady bug. Kyle had laid his head into Zoe's lap, chewed on a blade of grass and gazed into the sky dreamily. Zoe played with his blonde locks and talked about the first time Zoe, Kyle and Misty had met at the shack. They smiled thinking of that day and realized how much had changed since then.  
"And to think that you didn't even know who Stevie was!" Misty remarked and they all broke out in laughter.  
They forgot the time and when they saw that the sky had turned from bright blue to purple and orange they set off for home.

Only half way back to the car, Misty suddenly stopped, making Kyle almost run into her. She knelt down and at first the others couldn't see what she was doing, but when she got up again, they saw that she was holding a tiny bird in her hands. It was dead, but its little body had not yet started to decompose. Misty turned to Cordelia and looked at her insecurely, doubt and fear in her eyes. This was her chance! To come back! To reconnect with her powers! Cordelia gave her a nod of encouragement and stepped to her side. Misty hesitated another moment but then looked at the bird intently, trying to bring it back to life. When nothing happened Misty started to shift from one foot to the other nervously. But she took a deep breath and tried it again.  
Everybody held their breath. Cordelia wanted nothing more than the bird to come alive and fly away. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in anticipation. But again nothing happened and she could see Misty go pale. Realization hit her and she was petrified with pain and fear. She couldn't do it! A single tear ran down her cheek and she looked as if she was about to faint. She let her arms drop and the bird slipped off of her hands, but before it hit the ground it jerked around in the air and suddenly flapping its little wings it flew away. Cordelia met Zoe's gaze - they didn't know whose spell hit the bird first, but it didn't matter. It was meant to console Misty, but the swamp witch let out a heartbreaking sob and her knees gave way. Kyle reacted quickest and caught her before she could fall. She was as limp as a sack of potatoes and Kyle struggled to keep her upright so Zoe stepped up to help support her. Misty just cried and sobbed " no no no no no….". Cordelia was by her side, she took her face in both her hands, trying to get her attention, trying desperately to comfort her. "Sshhh, it's alright! We're here! We got you! It's alright, love!"  
She pulled Misty into her arms and Misty buried her face into Cordelia's neck, putting all her sorrow, all her pain, all her emotions into the embrace, hugging Cordelia so tight, she could barely breath. As if drawing strength from Cordelia's embrace, Misty slowly calmed down and after a few more moments she let herself be led out of the swamp.  
Nobody spoke on the ride home, they were too much taken aback by the sad turn out of an actually great day. And too much concerned about Misty's well-being.  
They got home late, the house was quiet and they made their way to their rooms and to bed right away.  
Misty was still silently crying, laying in bed curled up, turning her back on Cordelia. Who felt so helpless and so sorry and so desperate, she could barely stand it. She reached over to Misty and found her hand in the dark. Cordelia softly pulled her over and Misty turned to face her, their hands entwined. They kept silent, Cordelia just softly stroked her thumb over Misty's hand, looking onto her outline in the darkness. Face to face, hand in hand, one heart beating for the other, they fell asleep.

Some of Misty's blonde locks tickled her face and woke her up. A flood of affection rushed through her body, feeling the young woman so close to her. Misty's arm was wrapped around Cordelia's side, she could feel her breath on her collarbone and her sleepy warmth radiating from her - wrapping them both in a blanket of coziness. She closed her eyes again, breathing in Misty's familiar sweet scent and for once let herself just feel - feel what she felt for her, in every cell of her body, from her head to her toes to her overflowing heart. Hardly able to contain her feelings, Cordelia carefully stroked a loose strand of Misty's hair behind her ear - unfortunately causing the younger one to wake up. Misty smiled at her weakly and Cordelia, mirroring her expression, apologized for waking her up. It's ok said Misty and that she had had a bad dream anyways. Misty's eyes were so dark, her face still a mask of sadness and pain. Cordelia frantically tried to come up with something to cheer the girl up, when Misty suddenly whispered: "What good am I without my powers?"  
Cordelia was about to protest, but Misty went on, her voice cracking, her eyes tearing up.  
"I thought I'd get a second chance. To make things right….! So many innocents, Delia!" she swallowed hard. "I killed so many of them…and I wanted to make it up…to make it better". She paused sniffling."And now I can't!"  
Cordelia, did not understand everything she was saying, but it didn't matter. What she did understand was, that Misty had no idea of her own worth, of how much she meant to all of them and how much she had to offer - to them and to the world. Even if she would never regain her powers. She pushed the crying woman's chin up softly, looked her in the eyes and firmly said: "Misty, you are the most kindhearted, sweet-tempered, gracious, amiable woman, that I have ever met. You are so brave, so dauntless, smart and talented and the best thing that could have happened to his coven. You're such an asset to this…family, don't you see, how everything is better, brighter and happier since you came along. There are so many reasons to love you. And the absence of your power is definitely not a reason to love you any less. What you give - everyday, every second of your life - has made amends with what you did, or think you did, long ago"  
Cordelia's cheeks had started to glow from her passionate speech and Misty smiled at her through her tears. She was relieved to see, that the shimmering in Misty's eyes did not only come from her tears, but that she slowly cheered up. She took Misty's hand in hers and squeezed it softly. "Magic is so unpredictable. Don't give up hope, just yet."  
Misty sniffled one last time, nodded and then, with a soft smile said: " You do know that there are a million reasons to love you, too, Delia, right?" Cordelia thought she knew how Misty meant it, but when she saw her piercing, longing gaze a wave of heat rushed through her body and she turned away, confused and self-conscious.  
She got up clumsily and stammered something about having to take a shower and getting ready to go to work. Misty just watched her from the bed and chuckled in amusement.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

During the following days Misty was quieter and more absent-minded than usual, but she kept on going, held her head up high and slowly regained her confidence. The girls did a great job, occupying Misty with all kinds of tasks and assignments, making her feel valuable and needed. Cordelia was so thankful and proud, to be part of such a great community.  
Queenie even came up with the idea to give Misty her own class. In one of their council meetings they discussed and decided to let her teach "herbalism". And Misty loved it. She was a great teacher and the young witches adored her. She was found with her nose in a book more often than without a book and prepared her lessons with such enthusiasm and creativity, she quickly became the student's new favorite teacher. Cordelia observed her with pride and contentment and, to her great relieve, found Misty to grow more and more cheerful and chipper every day. Her eyes started to glow again, she started laughing again, she started talking more again, she started singing again and she started dancing again. Dancing with confidence and passion.  
Which Cordelia coincidentally could witness one day, when she passed Queenie's room and found her and Misty getting their groove on to some of Queenie's R'n'B tunes.  
Completely lost in music, Misty moved her body to the rhythm of the song - her eyes closed, smoothly rocking her hips and arms, looking like she has never done anything else, like she was born just to dance. There was nothing innocent about it. But it was pure and wild and hot. Hot like Cordelia's cheeks and her blood. She could not take her eyes off of Misty. She was mesmerized - hypnotized.  
Then Queenie spotted her, standing by the door, and waved her inside. And when Cordelia, too busy staring, didn't move, she grabbed her by the hand, dragged her inside and twirled her around, making her join their little dance party. Catching the mood of the jolly girls, she shook off her fluster and started dancing along. Misty beamed at her in delight and the three of them enjoyed the music, the moment, just smiling and laughing and busting a move.  
"Dang, Delia! I didn't know you could shake it like this" Queenie exhaled in glee.  
"Oh, there's a lot you guys don't know about me" Cordelia countered and winked at the two stunned girls.  
The song had just ended, when Madison poked her head into the room and huffily complained: "You're having a party, without me?" She let herself in.  
The ipod on shuffle, the next song started to play and the women frowned in amusement, recognizing Harry Nilsson's "Coconut".  
"Uhmm Queenie?" Madison looked at her in confusion.  
"What? I love this song! It's from that cute witch movie with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman." she explained.  
"Practical Magic!" Cordelia and Madison exclaimed simultaneously and started laughing.  
"I love that movie!" Madison added excitedly  
"Meeh it's alright…a little white though", Queenie commented.  
"Less talking, more dancing!" Misty suddenly shouted out cheerfully and grabbed Madison by the hand to make her dance.  
"No, no, no, it goes like this", Queenie interfered, stepping in front of Misty, making her put her hands on her hips, and shaking to the beat of the song. "Delia, come on, you know the drill!"  
And she did! Broadly grinning, Cordelia stepped behind Misty and showed her the moves of the little dance.  
At last Madison joined them as well and they danced, wiggled and shimmied one behind the other, singing along at the top of their lungs.  
"Doctor! Ain't there nothing I can take, I said doctor! To relieve this belly ache…."  
The music blasted through the whole house and when Queenie lead them outside the room, little witches' heads popped out of the doors all along the hallway, gazing at them curiously. Some of them joined them right away, giggling and having the time of their lives, seeing their teachers go nuts like that. Some of them needed to be cheered on, but they shyly went to the end of the dancing line and copied the moves from the others.  
By the staircase, Kyle ran into them, all confused but smiling at the girls gone wild.  
"Zoe, come here, you gotta see this" he called down the stairs and was suddenly pulled into the line by Cordelia, beaming at him in pure joy. "Less talking, more dancing" she repeated Misty's words and laughed out loud.  
In that moment, she was so carefree and so full of bliss, she closed her eyes and wished it could forever be like that.

Later that day Zoe asked Cordelia to sit with her in the living room - she had some news, some findings that she wanted to share with the Supreme.  
Seeing the gloomy look on Zoe's face, Cordelia tensed up and wondered, if something bad had happened. She worriedly asked: "What's going on Zoe? Did something happen?"  
"No, no, everything is fine, I'm just a little concerned about how you will react to what I've got to tell you." Zoe answered. Cordelia just frowned and let Zoe explain.  
"I found some things concerning Misty's reappearance that seem interesting and that might be able to explain what had brought her back."  
"Oh, but that's good news!" Cordelia exclaimed. Zoe nodded, smiled at her and continued. She told Cordelia that she had read through almost two thirds of their library books and that she had finally found similar stories to Misty's. Registered cases, in which lost souls had roamed the realm, having lost their bodies for different kinds of reasons and then had not been able to make themselves visible or noticeable. Yet there were some very powerful witches, who after losing their body were able to transfer into other living beings, preferably animals.  
"A little bit like shape shifting", Zoe added, when she saw Cordelia's puzzled expression. Then it seemed to dawn on the Supreme and she breathed out heavily: "The frog!"  
"Yes", Zoe said, as if she had waited on Cordelia to finally realize.  
Cordelia, too shocked by the revelation to utter anything else, let Zoe continue.  
"That still doesn't explain how Misty got her body back." she eyed Cordelia warily and went on: "That's why I wanted to tell you about these two cases", she opened one of the books that she had brought and laid it in front of the Supreme. "Two witches in the bodies of, one time a cat and one time a robin approached their families, their grieving husbands to be precisely. And with barely a chance to reveal themselves, to make themselves recognized for who they really were, they still somehow managed to make their husbands see." She paused, looking at Cordelia, who was now nervously shifting in her chair.  
"There is only one thing powerful enough to reunite a soul with a lost body," Zoe said and took a deep breath: " A true love's kiss. A kiss from the one they were meant to be with."  
Cordelia got hot and cold at the same time, her heart started beating fast and she didn't quite know what to make of this new information. She did not dare to look Zoe in the eyes and just started stammering:"But…but…how…I mean that's not possible. I mean…I…I was just being silly….when I kissed her…the frog! I mean when I kissed the frog. That's nonsense! There must be something else!" She got up abruptly, suddenly in a rush to get away, still all worked up and confused.  
"There's not always a reasonable explanation! Especially not when it comes to magic!" Zoe tried to calm her down and Cordelia actually hesitated and turned to face her again. So Zoe kept on talking: "When Madison and I brought back Kyle no spell would work and we hadn't developed our power of resurgence yet. Still, he is here and alive. Do you know what brought him back? Back to me? A kiss, Cordelia! I kissed him!" She hoped Cordelia would come to her senses. The Supreme seemed to be contemplating for a moment and then softly touched Zoe's shoulder and said: "Thank you, Zoe, for your help and effort. But in this case it has to be something else. I will do some research on my own and see what I can find out." With that she left a puzzled and disappointed Zoe behind.

Desperately needing some time to catch her breath and to calm down, Cordelia ran up the stairs, her thoughts running wild and her heart in her chest nearly exploding from feeling so many things at once.  
Confusion. What did all of this mean? Was there some truth to it? It couldn't be! Not like that!  
Fear. What was there to be afraid of?  
Love! Yes she loved all her girls, a sisterly affection! Nothing more!  
And then there was the pain of denial. The pain you feel, when denying your feelings, denying yourself.  
In this state of mind she stumbled across Misty, of all people. The woman beamed at her, like always, but her smile faded when she saw Cordelia's expression. She worriedly stepped towards her and asked her if she was ok. "Yes, I'm fine Misty. I'm fine!" she answered agitatedly. She was on edge and proceeded rashly and impulsively.  
"I think it's time though, that you try and sleep on your own again. You seem to be better and you barely wake with nightmares anymore." Seeing Misty's sad and confused look, she quickly added: " I just think it's for the better….for you…you have to learn sooner or later." And before Misty could protest or reply anything, she turned on the spot and vanished into her room.

At first she thought she couldn't go through with it, it felt wrong. But she was too scared, too confused to do anything else. So she slept on her on, for the first time in weeks.  
Except she didn't really sleep at all. Her thoughts caught up in circles she tossed and turned all night long and by the time the sun rose, she was so unnerved and angry at the circumstances, at her confusing state and at herself - she got up in a stubborn and spiteful mood. I'm the Supreme for heaven's sake. I won't let a silly tale and a strange kind of affection rule my life. I have to get a clear head and therefore I need some space. She said to herself to confirm her own decision.  
Determined to go through with her plan she made her way downstairs to start the day and have some breakfast. She entered the dining room somewhat cheerful and confident, but her positive attitude crumbled when she saw the girls huddled up conspiratorially with a look of disapproval on their faces. And then there was Misty, sitting next to them, spaced out, staring holes into the wall, looking groggy and tired.  
Cordelia took a deep breath and wished them all a good morning, maybe a tad too enthusiastic - she even herself thought, that her words sounded prim and fake. The girls' manner made her upset and brought out her defiantness - and so she unwaveringly continued her little act of cheerfulness. Someone had to take the reins and turn this situation for the better.  
"How did everyone sleep?" she asked, sitting down in her chair and smiled bravely. Queenie and Madison just looked at her reproachfully, Kyle pretended to be too busy with his cereals, and so Zoe was the only one who eventually, mercifully answered: "Good, and you?"  
Cordelia sighed inwardly and wondered how that day would turn out if it had already started as lousy as that.

(Thank you all so much for your lovely reviews! Means the world to me! :))


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Luckily the girls eventually cooled down and started treating Cordelia more or less normal again. Cordelia buried herself in work, hardly leaving her office and barely joining the girls in activities anymore. But she liked that she got things done and felt like she had regained control.  
Also she approved of her council taking care of Misty more often, hoping that she would feel safe and secure with them, too. Misty still seemed to take her work as a teacher very seriously, and although some students complained that the lessons were not that fun anymore, she always showed up well prepared.  
It still hurt her to see Misty mostly tired and gloomy, but she was convinced that that would soon change and that the girl just needed time to adjust.  
She blamed the fact that she herself barely slept on the many work-related things she had on her mind. When she did sleep, she woke up in the morning, feeling lost and cold and the bed seemed three times bigger than it actually was. Those silent moments were the only occasions when she would allow herself to feel something like loss or pain. But as soon as she got up and stood under the shower she came to her senses and put her mask back on.

About a week into this new kind of routine, she spotted Misty in the green house, showing Lily and Sally some flowers and smiling and laughing with them. A spark of hope inflamed in Cordelia and she had the feeling that things would finally turn for the better.  
The hopeful mood carried her through the day and for the first time in a long while she was sincerely good-tempered.  
In fact, she was so motivated, that she decided to go for a run after work. And coming back, being all pumped, she actually thought about finally returning that one reporter's call, who had been trying to ask her out since forever. To top it all off, she finally slept for more than three hours that night and woke up with that feeling of improvement again. Things weren't half bad.

Just a little later, making her way to the bathroom, she caught sight of Misty, coming out of Madison's room. Cordelia frowned and stopped to watch Misty - in her nightgown - being called back by Madison shouting:"Hey weirdo, you forgot your croc-tooth."  
Madison appeared in the doorway and handed her the necklace that she always wore and Misty said, smiling: "It's a gator tooth silly, not a crocodile's!"  
"Yeah yeah, whatves" Madison waved her away, laughing and then spotting Cordelia, called over to her: "Mornin' Delia".  
Seeing the Supreme's irritated look, she wrinkled her forehead and then something flickered in her eyes and Cordelia could tell that she was up to no good.  
Misty just shyly smiled, unaware of the looks the women exchanged and unaware of how the whole situation could have been interpreted.  
Madison smirked and seemed to finally have found her words of torture. Leaning over to Misty, almost touching her ear with her lips, Madison murmured, but loudly enough for Cordelia to hear: "I'll see you tonight", and winked at her in a suggestive manner. Misty confused and not sure what to make of Madison's weird behavior - but never having felt the need to understand everything and everyone (especially not Madison) - just smiled, gave Cordelia a greeting nod and trotted off to her room.  
Cordelia, her face flushed with anger, approached the smirking arrogant young woman and, ignoring Madison's silly little act, hissed at her:" Do you think I am making her sleep by herself because I want to hurt or harm her? There is a reason for my decision and you are certainly not helping by taking her in, like a lost orphan. She is strong enough to be on her own…."  
She was not done, but Madison, cut her off, firing back at her angrily: "Oh yeah? Is she? Then let me tell you what I have to listen to every night, making it impossible for me to sleep, because my room, unlike yours, is right next to hers. You don't have to hear her whining and moaning and crying all night long. I took her over here - yes - because she is calmer here. She doesn't really sleep, but at least I get to sleep. Even though she smells like earth and greens a little too much for my liking, but better than the wailing all night long… "I'm not finished" she huffed out, to stop Cordelia, who was about to protest.  
"So tell me again, how she can cope and how she can sleep on her own! And yes, you do have your reasons for kicking her out, but it sure as hell is not Misty's well-being! It's just your stuck-up attitude and your cowardice! What the hell are you afraid of? That girl adores you! Like crazy! For whatever reasons - beats me!" Without even awaiting an answer Madison turned around and slammed the door, leaving Cordelia standing there like a fool that she was. Tears were stinging in her eyes and she had a huge lump in her throat, her heart was beating wildly and her ears were ringing, from the blood rushing through her veins

"I didn't mean to cause you any trouble" she heard Misty's drawl behind her and Cordelia calmed down instantly.  
'This kind and beautiful and pure and good, through and through good being' - was all that she could think, and all that she could feel. It suddenly was all so clear! She closed her eyes for just a second, causing a tear to drip from her eye and run down her cheek. She wiped it away with the back of her hand, turned around to face Misty and let out a sound - half chuckle, half moan. Overcome by a different kind of excitement, she swiftly stepped towards Misty, who was standing lost in her doorway, her eyes filled with sorrow and affection. With one smooth movement Cordelia grabbed her hand, pulled her into the room and pushed her against the shut door. Still barefoot she had to stretch to reach Misty's lips with her own, but her hands found Misty's neck and she pulled her into the kiss. They melted into each other and Cordelia was barely able to stand upright, as all her functions seemed to have ceased to work. All there was was Misty! Her lips, her smell, her taste, her skin, her warmth - and Cordelia's stormy longing, raging through her boiling blood. When she felt Misty's tongue against her lips, slipping into her mouth and then finding her own tongue, a moan, so deep, it seemed to be coming from lightyears away, escaped her mouth and she was dizzy with pleasure. 'She tastes like life, like the universe, like the stars' - her mind went blank, her body had taken charge and she pushed herself closer against Misty, both starting to breathe heavily. Misty's hands slipping under Cordelia's shirt and touching her bare back caused another hot flash of desire ripping through her, erupting from her core, making her feel desperate for more. More touch, more skin, more closeness, more Misty. Startled by her own fierce passion, her voice of reasoning crept back into her conscience and she pulled away panting, still holding on tight to Misty. Scared of what she would find in Misty's face she slowly raised her eyes to meet Misty's and a wave of warmth and pleasure ran through her when she found fire in Misty's gaze - her eyes reflecting, what Cordelia felt. Their chests heaving in sync, they just looked at each other, mirroring each others expression of passion and wonder. But the stillness and the silence of the moment pulled Cordelia back into reality and she was suddenly filled with doubt and fear. She drew away from Misty hastily and started to apologize. "I…I'm so sorry Misty, that was…I don't know what I thought…I didn't mean to…I …I was out of line…" she stuttered, not able to form a coherent sentence. A knock at the door interrupted her stammering and both women jumped, startled by the sudden noise. Misty confusedly touched her own lips as if in a trance and didn't seem to be able to move or react, so they both just silently stood and waited - using, needing the time to calm down and to come to their senses.  
"Misty, it's Lily, I need some help with my homework. It's for Miss Cordelia's history class and I need to hand it in today" they heard the kid's muffled voice through the door.  
Misty hesitated another moment, trying to collect herself and quickly looked over to Cordelia, who slightly nodded, then she opened the door.  
Lily, the whirlwind that she was, entered babbling excitedly - how she knew how last minute this was and how she would be toast, if she didn't hand in that homework and… She stopped mid-sentence , finally seeing Cordelia standing in the corner of the room and the little witch's eyes widened in panic. She blushed horribly and stammered, trying to come up with several apologies. Cordelia just softly smiled at her, walked by her, patted her shoulder to take her worries and left the room without another word.

Back in her room, Cordelia ,overwhelmed and petrified, just stared into emptiness, her mind blank, her heart still racing. Coming to the conclusion that that would not improve her state at all, she threw herself onto the bed and screamed into her pillow in despair and frustration.  
The alarm clock on her nightstand caught her eye and she grumpily realized that she had to hurry to not be late for a meeting with a parent of one of her students.  
She pulled herself together and made her way to the bathroom, hoping not to run into anyone. She didn't, and when a minute later, the warm water ran over her body, she felt a little better already. She was just shampooing her hair, when all of a sudden someone banged at the door loudly. "Cordelia, come quickly, you gotta see this!" She heard Zoe's voice and alarmed by the girl's urgent tone and wild manner, she stepped out of the shower immediately. All wet and her hair still foaming, she just wiggled herself into a pair of jeans and pulled over the grey t-shirt that she had slept in, the fabric of the shirt soaking up the water and clinging to her bare skin. She quickly grabbed a towel and ran down the stairs, trying to rub some of the shampoo off her hair.

The commotion seemed to be coming from the greenhouse, she heard voices, mumbling and excited talking and when she finally reached the source of the mayhem she was surprised to find half the young residents of the house gathered in front of the greenhouse entrance.  
"What's going on? Is everything o.." her words got stuck in her throat, following the witches' gaze and finding the reason for all the fuss and turmoil. If she hadn't for a fact already known that there was such a thing as magic, this would have turned her into a believer. Misty was dancing and twirling in the middle of the greenhouse, countless bees, beetles, bugs and butterflies surrounding her, flying around her as if she was the sun, the light, the energy - giving them life! Life! She had never seen anything so full of life. Even the colors around her seemed brighter, more vibrant and the air was buzzing and filled with vigor. Cordelia was completely taken in by the enchanting spectacle and couldn't help but feel an insane joy and pride swell up inside her chest. Hardly able or willing to move and take her eyes off of the scenery she stepped next to Queenie and the others, who were watching in awe, mouths open or smiling broadly.  
"She did it!" Queenie whispered, without turning away from Misty.  
Finally the swamp witch stopped twirling and approached them, beaming like a kid on Christmas morning. She held something in her hand. A lady bug. It was crawling from her palm towards her wrist, opening its wings to set off into the air. "I brought that one back!" she exclaimed in pure joy, looked Cordelia in the eyes and took both her hands in hers. "You knew! You told me! And you were right, Delia!" Overwhelmed with happiness she hugged Cordelia tightly, to then pick her up and swirl and spin her around in the air, making Cordelia feel like she was flying herself, both of them laughing out joyously and savoring the moment in all of its essence . Misty put her down and let go off their embrace too quickly and Cordelia, not only dizzy from the spinning, but from Misty's touch and the closeness, wished herself back into her arms. Misty smiled at Cordelia one more time - a smile just for her, she knew - then she leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, making Cordelia blush.  
"I have so much to do!" Misty bursted out happily and wandered off, towards the back yard. Cordelia giggled and followed her with her eyes until she was gone.  
"That was awesome!" Kyle shouted out and kind of woke everyone up from their daze. Cordelia caught Zoe's eye, winking at her conspiratorially. And Queenie, looking Cordelia up and down, frowned and then mockingly said: "Nice outfit, Delia!" The others followed her gaze and Cordelia - suddenly aware that her shirt, from the water, had turned almost see through - blushed, quickly gripped her shirt to loosen it from her wet skin and excused herself. Walking through the crowd of curious girls, she told them to scatter and get ready for school, causing them to groan in protest. "How come Misty can do magic again?" Lily tucked on the Supreme's shirt, a big question mark on her face. Before Cordelia could answer, Madison was suddenly by her side and chimed in: "Yeah, Delia, how come?"she smiled at her mischievously and - not really needing an answer - she marched off into the kitchen.  
Cordelia, too happy to care, just rolled her eyes, quickly asked Queenie to go greet Mrs Winters - her appointment - at the door for her and ran up to her room to get dressed properly.  
Lily, still answerless huffed out sulkily: "Man, I wished I was flamboyant!"  
Queenie, standing next to her, bursted out laughing and corrected the girl in amusement: "It's clairvoyant, Lily - and believe me, you don't always wanna know what's on people's minds."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The return of Misty's powers determined the atmosphere at the coven for the rest of the day. Everybody seemed to be a little more light-hearted and chipper. You could hear more laughter and see loads of smiles all day long. The excitement still in the air, Misty's magical show in the morning, was the topic of the day. Even Cordelia managed to relax her nerves. Busy with work she banned the earlier morning's incident into the back of her mind. When she did think of Misty, she thought of her, twirling with the animals, glowing and powerful - and she just smiled, happy for Misty and glad things had turned out that way.

Misty stayed out until late that night and when she got home she was starved and made her way to the kitchen. Having missed dinner, she opened the fridge to look for a late night snack and decided to make a fruit salad.  
Cordelia found her cutting apples and peaches and smiling brightly, when she noticed her.  
"Hey you powerful witch" Cordelia said and smiled back at her, confidently approaching her, to nip her nervousness in the bud. Misty was radiating vitality and power and happiness and something else, she couldn't quite name it. She sat down on one of the stools by the counter and watched Misty prepare her fruit salad dinner - more of the cut fruit landing in Misty's mouth, than in the bowl. With a full mouth and while cutting the peaches, she started telling Cordelia all about her day. How it felt to be a part of nature again - like she was reborn. How it felt to give life again and how, in the past, giving life was something that had exhausted her quickly but that today she seemed to have endless strength.  
"And you never doubted it! You never had any doubts in me!" she stopped cutting, turned around and leaned against the counter. "I am so thankful for that! You brought my magic back, Delia!" she put the knife on the counter and took a step towards Cordelia, looking at her intensively and continued sincerely: "I owe you my life! And I don't know what I would do without you, Cordelia….I….it's so hard to explain…and I am not a girl of big words…but I…" she sighed, obviously having troubles to express herself. But Cordelia waited patiently for her to go on, even though she was scared of where this was going.  
"When I was stuck in hell….having to kill that poor frog over and over again…all I felt was excruciating pain…it took away everything good…my heart was pitch black…but then….there was you!" She stepped closer towards her and Cordelia's heart rate rose, but Misty went on talking: "Suddenly there was you Cordelia! I heard your voice….quietly at first, but it grew louder…and I finally remembered I had somewhere to go back to…and a feeling so powerful and deep overcame me…it was like it exploded inside of me and went into all my cells…and I could draw strength from that feeling! I suddenly remembered that I had powers." She smiled at that almost proudly. "I never knew I could do it, but I somehow shape-shifted into one of the boy's frogs and I got out of there. And as soon as I leaped out of this horrible classroom I suddenly found myself in the greenhouse." Cordelia listened, eagerly, anxiously, holding her breath - and things started to make sense and ceased to make sense at the same time.  
"I can't quite explain it, but I thought of the greenhouse. I thought of you! And there I was in the greenhouse…and there you were! You found me! You recognized me! You saw me, Delia, how could you see me?" she took yet another step towards Cordelia, who swallowed hard, her heart beating like a drum.  
"You brought me back! You kissed me!" Misty merely whispered. She was so close now that Cordelia could feel her breath on her face and smell her sweet scent. Cordelia could hardly breathe and her head started swimming. She did not dare to look Misty in the eyes and just weakly started stammering:" I…I…I'm sure there is a…reasonable explanation for all that…we did bond very quickly and our….our magic…together…it's powerful. I mean…we went through a lot together…there's an explanation…I'm sure of it."  
When Misty brought her hand up to her cheek and touched her tenderly, she felt dizzy and her heart seemed to be on the verge of exploding. She couldn't bear it anymore, so once again Cordelia retreated, pushing her chair back and quickly drew away from her, bringing some space between them - which oddly enough made her feel cold and lonely and wrong. But she kept her distance, again exclaiming that she was sure there were explanations somewhere to be found. Catching Misty's disappointed and frustrated expression, she forced out a wry smile, trying to improve the situation. Misty smiled back at her sadly, feeling rejected, but giving Cordelia the space that she obviously needed.  
Clearly confused, Cordelia stumbled over a chair and rushed towards the hallway, but stopped by the door one more time.  
"We'll look into it, tomorrow, ok?" she said, eager to get away, her voice quavering.  
Misty hadn't moved at all. She just looked at Cordelia - heartbroken, and barely audible answered: "ok!"  
Cordelia, not able to stand Misty's devastated look and not able to stand her own feelings, just whispered: "Alright then, good night" and left.

Cordelia closed the door to her room, leaned against it, letting the cold material cool her hot forehead and breathed out heavily. Not able to form a single clear thought, she exasperatedly groaned, turned around and let herself slip down the door. Sitting curled up, embracing her knees, she banged her head against the door several times and desperately exclaimed: "Fuck!"  
Hit by sudden realization - what could be worse than this? - she abruptly got up, clenched her fists, took a deep breath and decisively opened the door, to go find - Misty! She almost ran into her, but stopped, surprised by her sudden appearance and by the angry expression on her face. Before Cordelia could say anything, Misty squeezed past her and started pacing up and down the room and talking hotly: "You know, it's not ok, Delia! It's not! I don't need to look into anything! I know, Cordelia, I know!" She had stopped pacing and focused on Cordelia, but seeing her just standing there all puzzled, she went on: " I have always been so lonely and whenever people came into my life, they left again…so I've always been afraid, afraid to be left…I've been afraid my whole life…until I met you! I met you and I wasn't afraid anymore…and….my heart….my soul….and my body….just long so much to be with you, Cordelia! I don't need an explanation for that…it's just what it is! So why do you need one? What are you so afraid of?" She had talked herself into a rage that Cordelia had never seen in her before. Provoked by Misty's outburst, Cordelia picked up the blonde woman's anger and blurted out fiercely: "This! This is what I'm afraid of! You and me and us! My own feelings! I have never felt anything like this before! I am so scared to lose control, to lose my sanity ! But most of all I am scared to lose you! I can't…I can't stand the thought of losing you…I can't, not again, Misty…I…" she could not go on speaking, because Misty had taken two quick steps and closed the gap between them, cupping her face with her hands, and pulling her into a kiss, so passionate, Cordelia was instantly on fire.  
She closed her eyes and lost sense of time and space and everything around her. Leaning into the kiss, she pulled Misty closer, breathing hard and moaning into her mouth. Tangled up in each other, hands trying to find a grip on something - anything to pull each other closer they had difficulties standing upright and stumbled towards the bed. Incredibly hungry - for each other, for their touch and their bodies - they held on to each other as if to dear life, breathing in the other, tasting mouths and skin, hands wandering under fabric, feeling bare skin, sending tingles through their bodies. Flashes of lust and longing erupting from their fast beating hearts, exploded in their cores and made both of them flush with arousal, their pulses throbbing in all the right places. They finally fell onto the bed, immediately pulling each other closer again, not able to stand the tiniest distance between them. There was no need for hesitation, no need for words, no need for thoughts. Still passionately kissing, Misty rolled Cordelia over on her back, pinning her down with her own weight. Feeling her warm body atop of her, Cordelia moaned loudly and, desperate to feel more she sat up again, pushing Misty up with her, hugging her tight. Misty sat straddling her and just let go of Cordelia's mouth to hastily take off her dress, pulling it over her head, leaving her almost completely naked. Cordelia stopped and stopped breathing, looking at Misty's bare, smooth, almost marble-like body. She slowly reached out one hand and touched Misty very softly, tenderly on her rib cage, right there, were she could see Misty's heart beat with every breath she took. She traced her fingers along her soft skin, along her ribs and stomach and Misty closed her eyes taking in the overwhelming sensation of Cordelia's tender touch. Cordelia looked at her as if she was out of this world, as if she was something divine - and to her she was. The tension nearly driving her insane, Cordelia quickly pulled off her shirt and opened her bra with trembling hands. Misty pulled her back into the embrace, laying back down - and Cordelia, then and there, was sure that she had never felt so deeply, never felt anything so pure and beautiful and phenomenal than feeling Misty's soft warm skin on her own. She felt so much, it made her dizzy but at the same time she wanted to feel more, afraid to lose her mind, if she wouldn't. Desperate for release she put all her emotions into her kisses, into her touch and nearly exploding from desire she couldn't contain herself anymore and pushed Misty over. Leaning over her, she kissed her mouth, her face, the spot behind her ear, her neck, her collarbone, the sweet flesh of her breast and then her nipple, causing Misty to arch up in pleasure, pressing into the touch of Cordelia's lips and tongue. Misty let out a moan full of lust, emerging from deep within her soul and ending between Cordelia's legs, as if it had touched her there. Kissing every inch of Misty's body, she made her way down to her stomach, her sides, her thighs and then paused to carefully slip down Misty's panties. Again mesmerized by her beauty, by the most beautiful creature she had ever laid eyes on, she leaned back over Misty, searched for her gaze and found it full of passion and fire. She laid down next to her, propping up on her elbow and with her free hand she started exploring and caressing Misty's body. She let her fingers trail along the length of her body, starting at the lips and ending between her legs, where she found a pool of pleasure, matching her own. Touching her there, exploring her, she was thrilled by the sensation, and just by feeling and hearing and seeing Misty's tremendous arousal she nearly bursted herself right then and there. Misty, trembling and barely able to move, but feeling the need to be even closer, to feel Cordelia everywhere, sat up and together they took off Cordelia's panties.  
Everything flowed and everything overflowed, everything erupted and everything was too much and too little at once when their bodies, their cores fully touched. They found the same rhythm, the one that their beating hearts shared as well, and everything in sync, neither of them knew, where one began and the other one ended. They were one. And then finally there. And it felt like dying and being born all at once.

She felt light as a feather, she had never felt so light before.  
She put her head onto Misty's chest and closed her eyes in pure bliss. When Misty brought a hand to her face, wiping a tear off of her cheek, she realized that she had been crying. She buried her face into the dent between Misty's neck and her shoulder and felt as save and as home as never before. Her hands and face tingling from the afterglow, she smiled deeply satisfied. Her heart was so full of love, it was on the edge of being painful, but she felt at ease and she felt so right. Everything felt right. Misty gently caressed Cordelia's back with her fingertips, her eyes closed, her breathing calm.  
"Delia?" she softly mumbled, already dozing off into sleep.  
"Hmm?" Cordelia answered, too tired and too blissful to move or speak.  
A few moments passed and Cordelia already thought Misty must have fallen asleep, when she spoke after all. "Nothing" she just sleepily said and Cordelia smiled. She knew! No words were needed!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

They had slept too long, stayed in bed too long, stayed in each others arms for too long, not wanting to separate, not wanting to get dressed and be apart. They did part eventually - reason overpowering their giddiness - but with light hearts and the unspoken promise of being together again soon.  
Cordelia took a quick shower, in a hurry to start the day, she swiftly stepped out of the bathroom and ran into Madison.  
Madison scrutinized her and frowned. "Eww, you reek of sex!" she then exclaimed and wrinkled her nose. Cordelia raised her brows and huffed out indignantly: "That's not possible…." she paused and, changing her mind, continued: "I just took a shower!" she smiled at Madison triumphantly.  
"Ugh gross, spare me the details!", Madison chuckled and rolled her eyes. But she smiled at Cordelia, obviously happy for her, and cheekily said: "So, a witch, the one and only Supreme aaaand a lesbian! You really do like being an outcast, don't you?"  
Cordelia laughed out and answered with a crooked smile: "Huh, seems like I do?!"  
"Well.." Madison threw a fist in the air and shouted out loudly: "All hail to the outcasts, all hail to the outcasts…" and marched off repeating her little chant. Cordelia giggled, shook her head and made her way downstairs.  
"Good morning", she greeted Zoe, who was making some coffee and turned to look at Cordelia.  
"Mornin, Delia" she answered and then: "look at you all glowing and shining!"  
Cordelia wondered if they had all turned clairvoyant over night. She smiled at her shyly and apologized for not believing in her and for reacting like an idiot, when Zoe had been right all along. Zoe just offered her a cup of coffee, softly smiling and they both leaned against the counter, sipping at their hot beverages.  
"Do you love her?" Zoe asked and again Cordelia was flustered by the bluntness, but then she realized that there was nothing "un-blunt" about her feelings for Misty and her answer was full of earnest: "Like no one before!" They smiled at each other and Zoe wanted to know: "Did you tell her?"  
\- "No, but she knows!"  
\- "Tell her! There is nothing more powerful than to hear and utter those words, nothing more magical, nothing more liberating."  
Cordelia nodded and then, smirking at her said: "You are too wise for your age! Go do something irresponsible!" They both laughed and Cordelia friendly bumped her shoulder into the younger one's.  
Just a couple of minutes later the girls gathered for breakfast and Cordelia, standing in the doorway to the dining room, observed Madison excitedly approaching Queenie and yelling: "They did it! Delia and Misty! They did it! Ha! I knew it!"  
"They did what?" Lily asked before anyone else could say anything.  
Madison, realizing that her yelling around might have been a little inappropriate with the little ones being around, smirked and answered: "uuhmm their taxes, honey…they did their taxes!"  
Lily frowned and, disappointed and bored by the outcome of a promising gossip topic, turned around to continue to talk to Sally.  
Madison, catching Delia's stern gaze just shrugged her shoulders and sat down next to Queenie, who finally got to comment, too: "No offense, Delia, I'm happy for you, but can we not discuss this over breakfast?"  
"Can we not discuss this at all?" Cordelia threw in.  
"Discuss what?" Misty entered. Cordelia inwardly groaned but smiled at her love warmly.  
Madison, seeing Misty, let out a screech and, jumping up and down, approached her to hug her stormily and blurted out: "Awww, congratulations!"  
Misty all baffled, stood stiff and still and, eyeing Madison wonderingly asked: "Congratulations on what? I didn't do anything!"  
"That's not what I heard!" Madison teased her, winking at her.  
Misty, still confused, freed herself from Madison's grip, sat down and ignoring Madison's as usual weird behavior, helped herself to some bagels and jam.  
"You didn't hear anything!" Cordelia clarified and threw another warning glance at Madison.  
"I think we all heard enough and said enough, eat your breakfast!" Delphine had entered and put her foot down. Everyone silent at once, they behaved and hungrily dug into their breakfasts.  
Cordelia, relieved by her interference, locked eyes with Delphine and mouthed a silent thank you. Delphine nodded and smiled at her warmly.  
Cordelia had never been someone to wear her feelings on her sleeve, she had to get used to being the center of attention for her love for Misty. It helped that everyone seemed to naturally accept the fact, that she and Misty were something more than friends, that they were an item, lovers. She felt Misty's hand reach for hers under the table and took it, squeezing it softly. Looking into her eyes, she suddenly urgently wished to be alone with her, so she could tell her how she felt, tell her that she loved her. She sighed and reached for her cup of coffee. The right time would come.

She found Misty in the greenhouse, busy with some seedlings, digging her hands into a big pot filled with earth, her arms into the dirt almost up till her elbows. Cordelia quietly approached her and wrapped her arms around her from behind, causing Misty to softly moan and close her eyes, leaning into her lover's touch.

"Hi". Cordelia almost sounded nervous, that feeling in her stomach was back and she felt excited and giddy. Misty slightly turning her head, kissed her cheek and continued her work. Cordelia still holding her tight, looking over her shoulder said: "You know, you actually already had your powers back a long time ago?"  
"Oh yeah?" Misty asked smiling but without turning around.  
"Yes! You brought those butterflies in my stomach alive the very first day you got back here!"  
Misty finally interrupted her digging and, turning around in Cordelia's arms, smiled brightly, their faces only inches apart. Bringing her hands to Cordelia's face, she pulled her into a passionate kiss, leaving Cordelia once again dizzy, her blood rushing wildly through her veins. Feeling dirt fall off of Misty's hands and into her cleavage, Cordelia giggled into the kiss and playfully complained: "Hey, keep your mud, I don't need it!"  
Misty's eyes suddenly glimmered with frisky mischief and she started rubbing her earthy hands all over Cordelia's face. Cordelia immediately catching the playful mood, laughed out loud and, up for revenge, pushed Misty back into the table to reach the moist earth, grabbed a good handful and splashed it onto Misty's cheek and neck.  
Misty gasping in joy followed suit and got some more mud to rub it all over Cordelia. Giggling and laughing, they started a mud fight, throwing, rubbing and smearing mud all over each other, wriggling, trying to get away and holding each other tight to get the other one as dirty and muddy as possible.  
Covered in mud, breathless from laughing and fooling around they stopped, beaming at each other like maniacs. Cordelia had Misty still pinned against the table. They gazed at each other, their chests still heaving heavily. "I love you", Cordelia whispered. It was the realest most truthful thing she had ever uttered and it did feel freeing and wonderful and magical. Misty kissed her forehead, flicked some dirt off of Cordelia's hair and scrunched up her nose. "I love you too!" She kissed her again, on her lips, both of them smiling into the kiss and Misty mumbled into her mouth: "and I won!"

(OK this was just some fluff to wrap it up! I guess this is it! I had loads of fun writing this fic! I really hope you enjoyed it and that my English was ok :D

I am very thankful for your nice comments and reviews! Makes me want to keep writing :) Maybe some Bananun ;)

Take care and be kind to one another xxx Krissi)


	11. Chapter 11

THEY BROUGHT HER BACK!


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